Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera will present his budget to Parliament this afternoon. 

The budget is expected to be a populist one as a crucial Presidential election is scheduled later this year. 

A salary hike for government sector workers is expected along with multiple measures to increase the direct tax revenue. 

Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera tweeted that the theme of this year's budget will be 'empowering the people, nurturing the poor.'

Meanwhile, the UNP backbenchers have stated that they will defeat the President's expenses due to the latter's continuous affiliation with the opposition. 

However, their threats have not elicited a positive response from senior UNP ministers who say they will not resort to such measures against the President. 

"When we work as a government we can't allow one part of the budget to be voted down by Parliament," Minister Ravi Karunanayake said.